Contact Center Solutions Featured Article

While we often refer to the call center as its own industry, call centers are actually operating in a variety of industries and each one is often measured individually on overall performance.

According to the CFI Group’s Call Center Satisfaction Index, the insurance industry leaves much to be desired in terms of call center customer satisfaction, despite recent efforts to improve customer service in the past few years.

The report described the industry’s overall score as being 68—‘worrisome.’ The highest score went to catalog retailers who earned a score of 80, with the banking industry close behind with a 77. This index is based on a 100-point scale.

Sheri Teodoru, program director and partner at CFI group as well as the study’s author, highlighted that call centers operating in the insurance industry space can do a better job training representatives. These organizations need to make sure that the training is in place for the agents who are answering customer questions.

Not surprisingly, the study showed that customer satisfaction is closely tied to call resolution. When evaluating the insurance industry, 73 percent of respondents who reported that their issues were resolved also expressed overall call center satisfaction. This group of individuals awarded insurance organizations an average satisfaction score of 80.

For another 22 percent who reported unresolved issues, the average satisfaction score dropped to 29. Teodoru noted that while call center representatives in this industry were courteous and clearly understood, they were overall a little bit less effective in handling customer queries than some of the more successful industries that were measured.

The 2007 Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index (North America) revealed that consumers who have experienced an exceptional contact center interaction cite several commonalities involving agent actions, such as a quick response to inquiries or issues; providing accurate and detailed product and service information; set expectations for what will happen after the interaction and transferred knowledge to customers so they are qualified to make informed decisions.

Those contact centers that take it upon themselves to measure customer satisfaction tend to have a more customer-centric strategy in place. However, a survey conducted by ICMI on performance metrics found that one in three centers today, or 29.3 percent, do not measure customer satisfaction. This type of approach to business puts the company in a position where retaining the customer base is unlikely.

While such an approach may not be the norm in the insurance industry, the CFI Group research indicates that changes must happen to ensure that customer satisfaction continues to improve. As easy as it is to change companies, not one can afford to ignore the needs of the customer.

Want to learn more about contact centers? Then be sure to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.

IP stands for Internet Protocol, a data-networking protocol developed throughout the 1980s. It is the established standard protocol for transmitting and receiving data
in packets over the Internet. I...more

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